Jesse interviews this SF based artist who has a thing for dogs and boners.

I love dogs, music, sex and fun times. As a result of liking those things, you might say that I was biased when talking about Jay Howell and his artwork. This is artwork where mountains go bike riding, where dogs form pyramids and cyclones, and where hippies rock out to metal... and don't forget boners. Plenty of boners.

Jay is also the author or countless zines and books, most recently the instructional guides; Dog and Dog Information and Let Me Tell You Where to Stick It (with Audrey Erickson). Jay is also co-owner of the record label Mt St Mtn, who with partner Mark Kaiser, has continued to put out great records for the last several years... Below is a short conversation with Jay at his apt. in the Mission here in good ol' San Francisco, California. USofA.

// Jay Howell and his pet birds. photo: pollock

Since I love food basically as much as I love art, I usually talk about restaurants and delicious places to eat right off the bat. However, you're a vegetarian. So where do you get the best veggie burger or whatever?

The fish tacos El Metate are so good. I eat at El Farolito, St. Francis, Atlas Cafe, and Country Station. I also can't forget Arinell. I love a pizza sandwich (when you take two big slices and fold them into a sandwich). Pizza is so good, plus Arinell is the best pizza place in the city.

You used to live in Sacramento a while back and you seemed to do a lot of great stuff up there. So much so, that someone actually called you "Sacramento's golden son". How was your time up there?

I had so many amazing moments in Sacramento. It's a really kind city and a good place to get things done, get to things started, or a good place to have kids. It's easy to get stuck in a rut there though. I like the crazy hot summers and then going to the rivers and riding bikes all night. Breaking into swimming pools and drinking cold beers in the hot sun is good too.

Since we're currently in the dead of winter, I'd take any of those moments right now. Sounds like you got wasted a lot and had a bunch of crazy parties.

Well, getting wasted and having a crazy party is kind of my thing.

You made your book Negatron up there and it did really well - even making it on to some critic's top picks. Can you talk about the book a little bit?

It's a compilation of old zines that I started doing back in 1998 called Punks Git Cut! Then I re-drew a bunch of it, added some new stuff and called it "Negatron". I named it after this weird experience I had with a magic healer dude who told me my mission in life is to take negative experiences and "vibes" and then recycle them into fun times for the people around me.

Also while living in Sacramento, you formed the record label Mt St. Mtn with Omnibus's Mark Kaiser. Despite small runs and being an independent, the label seems to be doing really great right now. How did all that start?

Mark and I really wanted to create an imprint which is a little more lasting than what is currently out there right now. All you see is tons of disposable things like CDs and flyers for shows. Just 100s printed up and put out all over the place for a single moment by the worst graphic designers ever (anyone with a computer). Or like the internet, which is so wonderful, but it feels cheap to me because I can't hold it. I like to own special little things and I like to give them away too.
Things like zines and records are personal and thoughtful products. They're the type of thing that makes me super excited. The first time I saw a Cometbus zine I was so stoked that is was just some random dude telling you about his life. It was really inspiring to see that I could do this too and that there was no one there looking over your shoulder, grading you or anything. Do you remember when he'd put out those zines on tape too? That was so sick. All our records are hand screen printed or letter pressed, and done in limited runs no bigger than 500 copies. This creates a product that's not so disposable and the people who really want it the most can have it. You can order them through Revolver USA if you're interested. I sell the zines for like 2 bucks at Needles and Pens or if you see me on the street I'm always down for a trade or whatever. Just ask me and I'll give you one.

That's a pretty refreshing stance on the whole record company scenario. On the other side of things, you and Mark were also in that band Gift Of Goats as well as some other bands over the years. What's up with you and playing music these days?

Being in a band is miserable. I'd rather go out and see bands that know what they're doing. It took a little while, but I finally figured out that maybe I'm not the best musician and should put my energy in other places. I still get the urge to jam out sometimes but then like, who doesn't? There's nothing that can match the feeling of playing music and having it all come together. Music is so important to us and we would be nothing without it. Everybody knows that though.

What kind of music do you listen to while you're working (if any)?

I listen to His Hero is Gone, Sunn o))), Tragedy, Smog.. shit like that.

You have been playing records an awful lot these days as well, any plans to cut back?

I don't know, maybe. I'm a pretty lousy DJ.. like I can't beat match or anything. I get drunk and play the same songs over and over, and then I cut songs off because I get excited to hear another song and stuff. I just like to drink beer and listen to loud music of my choosing.

I feel like when I read your books and zines, that I take something away with me. A sort of "Jay Howell mantra" or something. I have the idea stuck in my head, that your books are quasi self-help manuals for daily living. Does something like that go on in your head when you're working?

Take a stand against the jerks from hell. They are out there and they want you to feel bad just because they do. You will not be taken down, YOU are from Tuff Town and they are from the lame village across the river. We launch rocks at them for a reason.

I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who has met you that you sort of
incorporate yourself into your work. Do you typically draw your fantasies? Do you do think your work reflects yourself more often than not?

I try to go onto my back steps and sit in the sun everyday. I like to stare at the sun with my eyes closed, you know like when your eyes are closed but you can still look at the inside of your eyelids? Then with the hot sun it's just so weird and red looking. I really like to soak up the good times, like petting dogs, swimming in
the ocean, partying, drinking tons, eating junk food, tons of sex, loud music. I live my life like I just walked into the chocolate factory (Mr. Wonka's). Fuck, that moment still gives me the chills and I watch it so much. I'd just stay in there forever and never ever get on that trippy-ass boat.

I suppose I'll draw my own conclusions from that one. I've heard your work described in the past as confrontational. Is that a statement you agree with? Is it something you strive for?

Maybe it is. I'm always scared to show my Mom what I'm doing. It's just sad to show your parents little pictures you drew of naked people and like, mountains with boners and stuff. It sounds silly, but I just want people to laugh, it means so much to me and nothing else matters. So it's not all for nothing, you know?

All I'm saying is that it's so important to be yourself. That's all you have to offer so just be honest. It's really scary to put yourself out there knowing that everybody is going to come down on you because they think they know where you're coming from and what you've been through. That's never, ever true. Personality is art.

Jay just finished a collaboration with film maker Jim Dirschberger of Eighty-Four Films on an animated short. You can watch their new film 'Hippy Shit Adventure' here. You can watch their previous film 'Punks Git Cut' here.

You can get updates on Jay and his work at Mt St Mtn.
Also check out Jay's upcoming show and t-shirt release at Receiver Gallery on Saturday, February 17th.

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

I don't think at this point it needs to be written since the last update to Fecal Face was a long time ago, but...

I, John Trippe, have put this baby Fecal Face to bed. I'm now focusing my efforts on running ECommerce at DLX which I'm very excited about... I guess you can't take skateboarding out of a skateboarder.

It was a great 15 years, and most of that effort can still be found within the site. Click around. There's a lot of content to explore.

I'm not sure how many people are lucky enough to have The San Francisco Giants 3 World Series trophies put on display at their work for the company's employees to enjoy during their lunch break, but that's what happened the other day at Deluxe. So great.

When works of art become commodities and nothing else, when every endeavor becomes “creative” and everybody “a creative,” then art sinks back to craft and artists back to artisans—a word that, in its adjectival form, at least, is newly popular again. Artisanal pickles, artisanal poems: what’s the difference, after all? So “art” itself may disappear: art as Art, that old high thing. Which—unless, like me, you think we need a vessel for our inner life—is nothing much to mourn.

Hard-working artisan, solitary genius, credentialed professional—the image of the artist has changed radically over the centuries. What if the latest model to emerge means the end of art as we have known it? --continue reading

"[Satire] is important because it brings out the flaws we all have and throws them up on the screen of another person," said Turner. “How they react sort of shows how important that really is.” Later, he added, "Charlie took a hit for everybody." -read on

NYC --- A new graffiti abatement program put forth by the police commissioner has beat cops carrying cans of spray paint to fill in and cover graffiti artists work in an effort to clean up the city --> Many cops are thinking it's a waste of resources, but we're waiting to see someone make a project of it. Maybe instructions for the cops on where to fill-in?

The NYPD is arming its cops with cans of spray paint and giving them art-class-style lessons to tackle the scourge of urban graffiti, The Post has learned.

Shootings are on the rise across the city, but the directive from Police Headquarters is to hunt down street art and cover it with black, red and white spray paint, sources said... READ ON

We haven't been featuring many interviews as of late. Let's change that up as we check in with a few local San Francisco artists like Kevin Earl Taylor here whom we studio visited back in 2009 (PHOTOS & VIDEO). It's been awhile, Kevin...

If you like guns and boobs, head on over to the Shooting Gallery; just don't expect the work to be all cheap ploys and hot chicks. With Make Stuff by Peter Gronquist (Portland) in the main space and Morgan Slade's Snake in the Eagle's Shadow in the project space, there is plenty spectacle to be had, but if you look just beyond it, you might actually get something out of the shows.

Fifty24SF opened Street Anatomy, a new solo show by Austrian artist Nychos a week ago last Friday night. He's been steadily filling our city with murals over the last year, with one downtown on Geary St. last summer, and new ones both in the Haight and in Oakland within the last few weeks, but it was really great to see his work up close and in such detail.

Congrats on our buddies at Needles and Pens on being open and rad for 11 years now. Mission Local did this little short video featuring Breezy giving a little heads up on what Needles and Pens is all about.

Matt Wagner recently emailed over some photos from The Hellion Gallery in Tokyo, who recently put together a show with AJ Fosik (Portland) called Beast From a Foreign Land. The gallery gave twelve of Fosik's sculptures to twelve Japanese artists (including Hiro Kurata who is currently showing in our group show Salt the Skies) to paint, burn, or build upon.

Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne played host to a huge group exhibition a couple of weeks back, with "Gold Blood, Magic Weirdos" Curated by Melbourne artist Sean Morris. Gold Blood brought together 25 talented painters, illustrators and comic artists from Australia, the US, Singapore, England, France and Spain - and marked the end of the Magic Weirdos trilogy, following shows in Perth in 2012 and London in 2013.

San Francisco based Fecal Pal Jeremy Fish opened his latest solo show Hunting Trophies at LA's Mark Moore Gallery last week to massive crowds and cabin walls lined with imagery pertaining to modern conquest and obsession.

Well, John Felix Arnold III is at it again. This time, he and Carolyn LeBourgios packed an entire show into the back of a Prius and drove across the country to install it at Superchief Gallery in NYC. I met with him last week as he told me about the trip over delicious burritos at Taqueria Cancun (which is right across the street from FFDG and serves what I think is the best burrito in the city) as the self proclaimed "Only overweight artist in the game" spilled all the details.

Ever Gold opened a new solo show by NYC based Henry Gunderson a couple Saturday nights ago and it was literally packed. So packed I couldn't actually see most of the art - but a big crowd doesn't seem like a problem. I got a good laugh at what I would call the 'cock climbing wall' as it was one of the few pieces I could see over the crowd. I haven't gotten a chance to go back and check it all out again, but I'm definitely going to as the paintings that I could get a peek at were really high quality and intruiguing. You should do the same.

The paintings in the show are each influenced by a musician, ranging from Freddy Mercury, to Madonna, to A Tribe Called Quest and they are so stylistically consistent with each musician's persona that they read as a cohesive body of work with incredible variation. If you told me they were each painted by a different person, I would not hesitate to believe you and it's really great to see a solo show with so much variety. The show is fun, poppy, very well done, and absolutely worth a look and maybe even a listen.

With rising rent in SF and knowing mostly other young artists without capitol, I desired a way to live rent free, have a space to do my craft, and get to see more of the world. Inspired by the many historical artists who have longed similar longings I discovered the beauty of artist residencies. Lilo runs Adhoc Collective in Vienna which not only has a fully equipped artists creative studio, but an indoor halfpipe, and private artist quarters. It was like a modern day castle or skate cathedral. It exists in almost a utopic state, totally free to those that apply and come with a real passion for both art and skateboarding

I just wanted to share with you a piece I recently finished which took me 4 years to complete. Titled "How To Lose Yourself Completely (The September Issue)", it consists of a copy of the September 2007 issue of Vogue magazine (the issue they made the documentary about) with all faces masked with a sharpie, and everything else entirely whited out. 840 pages of fun. -Bryan Schnelle

Jeremy Fish opens Hunting Trophies tonight, Saturday April 5th, at the Los Angeles based Mark Moore Gallery. The show features new work from Fish inside the "hunting lodge" where viewers climb inside the head of the hunter and explore the history of all the animals he's killed.

Beautiful piece entitled "The Albatross and the Shipping Container", Ink on Paper, Mounted to Panel, 47" Diameter, by San Francisco based Martin Machado now on display at FFDG. Stop in Saturday (1-6pm) to view the group show "Salt the Skies" now running through April 19th. 2277 Mission St. at 19th.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to quit my job, move out of my house, leave everything and travel again. So on August 21, 2013 I pushed a canoe packed full of gear into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Lake Itasca, Minnesota, along with four of my best friends. Exactly 100 days later, I arrived at a marina near the Gulf of Mexico in a sailboat.

Material published on FECAL FACE DOT COM online service is copyrighted by Fecal Face or its licensors, including the originating wire services. Such material is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and treaties. All rights reserved.

Users of the Fecal Face online service may not reproduce, republish or redistribute material found on the web site in any form without the express written consent of the copyright holder.